RESERVES FACE CRUCIAL FINAL TIE AT LEIGH
Manchester United's Reserves have a pre-Christmas outing on Thursday night against Middlesbrough in the Premier League International Cup.
The tie at Leigh Sports Village is the final Group B fixture and pits the top two sides in the table against each other. A draw would be sufficient for leaders United to qualify for the knockout stages but defeat would leave Nicky Butt's men relying on other results to see if six points is enough to progress as one of the two best second-placed sides.
Victories over holders Villarreal and Sparta Prague have left the Reds in pole position and the team has yet to concede a goal in the competition but Boro will provide a real test after also winning both of their games.
Demi Mitchell impressed in a new role at left-back against Sparta and it will be interesting to see if he is retained in that position, while Josh Harrop managed to overcome a hamstring problem during the 2-0 triumph. Axel Tuanzebe and Sean Goss were pictured training with the first-team squad this week but, of course, could still feature as key men for the Reserves.
The crucial match, which kicks off at 19:00 GMT, is being shown exclusively live on MUTV and it is the last fixture at Under-23 level until 9 January, when City provide the opposition in a Manchester derby at Leigh.
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